BEIJING (REUTERS, AFP) - Russian and Belarusian athletes will not be able to compete at the Winter Paralympics in Beijing, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) said on Thursday (March 3).

"Following a specially convened meeting, the IPC Governing Board has decided to refuse the athlete entries from the RPC and NPC Belarus for the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games," the IPC said in a statement.

"This means that para athletes from these respective countries will no longer be allowed to participate in the Games which open on 4 March 2022."

The decision comes a day after the IPC gave athletes from the two countries the green light to participate as neutrals, saying that the governing body had followed its rules and that “athletes were not the aggressors”.

IPC president Andrew Parsons had initially justified the call to allow the Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete by saying it was the “harshest possible punishment we can do within the framework of our rules”.

That all changed on Thursday.

“What is clear is that the rapidly escalating situation has now put us in a unique and impossible position so close to the start of the Games," the IPC added.

The statement said multiple Paralympics Committees, teams and athletes had threatened not to compete if the Russian and Belarusian athletes were allowed, “jeapordising the viability” of the Games.

“Ensuring the safety and security of athletes is of paramount importance to us and the situation in the athlete villages is escalating and has now become untenable,” it said.

A 71-member Russian contingent and 12-member team from Belarus are already in Beijing for the Games, which begin on Friday.

Parsons said the IPC was likely to face legal consequences but was confident that the right decision had been made.

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